William Cobbing: Transactions of the Duddo Field Club

Transactions of the Duddo Field Club documents recent sculpture, video and performance by William Cobbing that were exhibited at Hatton Gallery in Newcastle, and mima in Middlesbrough. Retrograde images of ancient rock formations are the basis for oversized ceramic book covers of Albert Camus’ Myth of Sisyphus. Monolithic-looking sculptures derive their surface appearance from the anthropomorphic Duddo Five Stones in Northumberland, formed through pressing rocks into heavily grogged clay, a random selection of books then slotted into their surfaces; monuments to inaccessible knowledge and trivia. The book also features a collaborative performance Palimpsest with Beth Collar, a disjointed conversation in which words are scored in a wet clay surface, and are then distorted or erased through the act of continually reworking the surface. Language becomes a tactile experience.

Contributions by Louise Chignac, Beth Collar, Arnaud Desjardin and Jonathan P. Watts.

Product Information

Book
Soft back, 120 pages

Published by mima, 2015
Design by Fraser Muggeridge Studio